This is my 30,000 foot look at events in the ICT industry for October 2011. What you see here is a précis of the monthly report I produce, which will be available in more detail at the News section of the Eagle website, where you will also find back issues.

A Little History of previous year’s Octobers … 

Five years ago in October 2006 Oracle paid $440 Million for Stellent and EMC paid $165 Million for Avamar, worker confidence was good, unemployment rates in Canada and the US were low and IT spending was relatively strong.  Four years ago in October 2007 Microsoft valued Facebook at $15 billion when it took a minority stake for $204 million, SAP paid $6.8 billion for Business Objects and Nokia paid $8 billion for Navteq, a mapping software company.  IT workers were happier and more secure than ever, NexInnovations closed its doors and a Royalty Review caused consternation for Canada’s oil patch.  In October 2008 doom, gloom and market meltdowns were the big news.  The number of IT jobs in the US dropped by 2% quarter over quarter and Symantec, eBay and Yahoo all announced significant layoffs.  A $5.8 billion merger of telcos in the US was the big deal of the month, with rural telephone company Century Tel buying its bigger peer Embarq.  Ebay bought 3 companies, Bill Me Later ($945 million) plus Denmark companies Ben Bla Avis and BilBasen ($390 million).  Symantec paid $695 million for MessageLabs, Tata paid $505 million for Citi’s Indian BPO arm and HP paid $360 million for LeftHand Networks.  Two years ago in October 2009 news was mixed as the recovery was under way.  Cisco paid $3 Billion for Tandberg, $2.9 Billion for Starent  and $183 Million for ScanSafe.  Adecco paid about $1.1 Billion for MPS Group (includes Beeline); Emerson Electric beefed up its datacenter capability paying $1.2 Billion for Avocent and Sprint Nextel avoided some legal issues by shelling out $831 million for iPCS. Last year in October Twenty-Ten Bell Canada bought a data center in Montreal (Hypertec) and picked up xwave from its subsidiary Bell Aliant.  Rogers paid $425 million for Atria networks and IBM pick up Toronto based Clarity Systems. 

Which brings us back to the present … 

In October 2011 the world’s economies continue to waver, with the EU now agreeing to another bailout plan for its underperforming members.  Employment is still a world problem, but there were some gains in Canada, the US and elsewhere. 

This month will likely be long remembered because Steve Jobs passed away at age 56 … an industry icon about whom much has been said.  Life (and business) does, however, go on and IBM announced a new CEO, the first woman in their history … Virginia Rometty will take charge effective 2012. 

On the M&A front Oracle made a couple of buys, including RightNow Technologies ($1.5 Billion) and Endeca Technologies; Sony bought Ericsson out of their Sony Ericsson joint venture ($1.5 Billion); Red Hat bought storage company Gluster ($136 million); and Cisco bought BNI Video ($99 million). 

In other news Dropbox raised $250 million to fuel expansion, which effectively values the company at $4 Billion.  Lenovo moved into #2 spot in worldwide PC manufacturers behind HP while edging Dell into third! 

Finally a few words for Rim, who seem to be having a tough go of it!  This month they were hit with a global network crash that affected customers for an extended period, further weakening their loyal customer base … which is being eroded by strong competition from both Android and iPhone.  This compounds it misery following a somewhat lackluster launch of its tablet.  If only Jim Balsille had got his NHL franchise, something would have gone right for them!  There is genuine concern that this Canadian icon might not return to its former glory and could become another subsidiary of a large conglomerate … that would not be good news for Canadian industry! 

Here at Eagle we had another strong month, see steady growth and are extremely busy in some markets.  It would however be nice to see world sentiment and economies provide some good news … and remove the nagging worries apparent in the markets today! 

Recovery continues to be a very long slow path, but I believe that we continue to head in the right direction … until next month, stay positive, walk fast and smile!

That’s what caught my eye over the last month, the full edition will be available soon on the Eagle website. Hope this was useful and I’ll be back with the November 2011 industry news in just about a month’s time. 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!

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It is interesting to watch how different companies operate, how they grow and succeed, how they stumble and sometimes recover … yet sometimes not!

I worked for Andersen Consulting, which today is called Accenture.   It is a company I greatly admire and part of that admiration is their determination to always push themselves.  They know what business they are in, they are a market leader and they are very successful … but don’t rest on their laurels!  YET … they have had their “stumbles”, in fact the name change was probably one of them.  Even though they had a brand recognition problem and a certain amount of scepticism about the new name they remained true to their business and today are at the top of their game.

IBM are another good example.  Love them or hate them they are one of the best in the world at what they do … they have had stumbles along the way, as they transformed to a more services based company, even divesting themselves of their PC business, yet today they are as successful as ever … and their brand must be amongst the most famous in the world.  They also just announced a new CEO, a home grown female executive who will join the rare ranks of female CEOs running Fortune 500 companies … good on them!

HP are an interesting to company to watch just now … one of the most successful companies in the world, it too has evolved from its “mini computer” roots to a more diverse hardware company and more recently a growing services business (with the acquisition of EDS a couple of years ago).  Yet they are in the middle of some stumbles … their EDS integration was not flawless, their announced exit and now “non-exit” from the PC business was confusing to the market and the debacle of  firing a CEO, then firing a second CEO 11 months later and bringing in a “high profile” (but different industry) executive as CEO leaves them struggling.  I have my money on their recovery, but I’m not sure they have finished stumbling yet and they need to turn the ship around!

Other very high profile companies currently struggling, yet with abundant ability to come back even stronger, include Sony (security issues amongst other things), RIM (lack of focus and poor entry into tablet space),  Nokia (former high flyer struggling for market share), many of the car companies (including Honda and Toyota).

As CEO of my own little company I try to learn from these “giants” … and it appears to me that companies get into trouble when they lose their focus, and that focus comes from a strong vision.  If your company doesn’t know what business it is in, what business it wants to be in and what it wants to look like down the road then that is a sign of trouble brewing.  If the top executives understand it but it is not communicated to the “sharp end of the ship’ then trouble is brewing too … and the bigger the company the harder that is.

Once a clear and compelling vision is articulated AND the appropriate plans in place to meet that vision, then they will be OK.  Until then they will have an uphill battle. 

Good luck to Meg Whitman at HP, (another female Fortune 500 CEO) and those other CEOs … it is going to be a tough journey but others have done it.  I’ll watch from the relative safety of my little company … and learn! 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!

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Have you noticed how GRUMPY people are lately?

They are worried about money, they are worried about the economy, their jobs, the fact that some people have more money than them, the fact that other people (bankers, CEOs, corporations) are ruining their world, the fact that government is not doing what they want etc etc.

This makes people GRUMPY … and the fact that there is very little they can do to change those things makes them GRUMPIER!

GRUMPINESS is contagious, so they infect the people around them creating more GRUMPY people!

My advice … focus on the things YOU can change, and have fun doing it!!!

Being GRUMPY will not make anything better … in fact you might just lose some friends. 

If you want to be GRUMPY then go far away from me!

I am going to start a new protest … NO Grumps Allowed!!!!

Walk Fast and SMILE!

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Have you tried Eagle’s (very cost effective) VirtualRecruiter service?

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The United Way does an amazing job helping communities across North America … and I volunteer my time to work closely with the local Ottawa-Carleton United Way on the Major Gifts Campaign. 

This year’s campaign is once again facing the challenge of asking for donations, in the face of tough economic times for all of us.  The reality is that, despite the poor economy, most of us are far better positioned than those who rely on help from our charitable organisations.  The United Way has done a lot of work to focus its efforts, be even more efficient with the money donated and be absolutely accountable for results!  It is one of the most efficient charitable organizations in existence, despite (or maybe because of) its size ( a lack of financial reporting standards can sometimes make it LOOK less efficient than it actually is!)

For me … the United Way is one place I can donate money and KNOW it will go to help my community. 

Back in May I blogged about the NEW United Way … because many people are not aware of how it has transformed itself over the years. 

A few years back I blogged about the United Way campaign, with some statistics that are a little shocking for one of Canada’s most affluent cities.

If you visit the website today you can see real success stories by just a small sampling of people whose lives have been changed by United Way agencies.

Be generous … make a donation to the United Way!   Whether through a workplace campaign … or visit the website!  Your donations make a huge difference in OUR community! (Make it just a little bit bigger than last year!!!)

PS.  Giving money is GREAT … giving time is GREAT too!  get involved, help make our community better. 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!

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LinkedIn is a great social networking tool for business and I use it regularly. 

When I first started to use LinkedIn I was a little surprised at how people used the “recommendations” on LinkedIn.  To me, a recommendation is like a reference and something to be very carefully considered.  To many LinkedIn users a recommendation is a way to enhance their reputation, whether it is pertinent (or even true).  So when I saw people whom I knew to be marginal performers receiving glowing recommendations I started to look a little closer. 

a.  People were providing recommendations for former colleagues that they hadn’t worked with for years!   How can anyone provide a recommendation for someone they worked with 10 years ago (never mind 20 years ago) when their role today must be hugely different and they have no idea what their work ethic or attitude is like in the last decade!

b.  People were giving recommendations to others so they could get recommendations for themselves.  Clearly the conversation must have been, “I’ll tell the world what a GREAT sales person you are, if you tell the world what a FANTASTIC recruiter I am”, says the unemployed recruiter to the recently fired sales person!

c.  People were getting glowing recommendations from colleagues who would have no clue how they were doing!   Hey … Joe Salesguy in Calgary is a FANTASTIC sales guy, says the junior recruiter in Toronto … who met him once in a pub!

As if the recommendations issue wasn’t bad enough, I have been noticing some interesting discrepancies in people’s work history!

1.  A profile will suggest Job A from 1995 to 2005 when I happen to know they worked for someone else in there (probably someone they wouldn’t want to use as a reference).

2.  A profile might suggest a different job title (and experience) than reality.  eg  Technical Recruiter 2007-2008 and Account Manager 2008 to 2011; rather than Technical Recruiter 2007 to 2011. 

People lie on their resumes all the time … a Forbes article suggested that as many as 40% of people fall into that category, there was a woman who even wrote a book about her story.  The difference is that a few people get to see your resume … the whole world can see your LinkedIn profile!

So …

(a) I don’t think people should tell lies on their resume … but I think it is just stupid to tell lies on a publicly accessible tool like LinkedIn!!! 

(b) If you are using LinkedIn as a recruiting tool … remember a LOT of people lie, so take their profile with a pinch of salt!

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!

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I read an article in the globe and mail today (courtesy of one of my twitter friends) about Fitness and Aging.  it references some interesting new research that suggests our body breaks down (read slows down, loses strength and fitness etc) more because we stop working out than from age.

Here are a few thoughts for you …

1.  You will cope with the stress and strain of your job better if you are in decent physical shape.

2.  If you put on just 2 lb of fat every year starting at age 25 (let’s not even mention the Freshman 5/10/20) … then you are going to be carrying a lot of extra weight by the time you are my age … more than 60lbs (more than 4 stone for you Brits)!!!!

3.  Everybody can find 30 minutes, 4 times a week to do some exercise … watch a little less TV, park your car 15 minutes from work and walk back and forth 5 times a week; get out both weekend days and then you only need two 30 minute slots during the week; ride a stationary bike while watching TV; there are lots of ways to do it.

4.  Add some weights into your routine … you don’t need to build huge muscles (it is not likely to happen unless you put some serious amount of work into it), but weight training will build some muscle quite quickly, which will increase your metabolism and mean you burn more fat all the time.

5.  Think before you eat or drink … do you need this; is there a better alternative; do you need ALL of it?  Small changes can make a big difference.

 Being fit does not necessarily mean you will live longer, but it will make your time here more enjoyable.   This Summer I played soccer on the same team as my kids (in their twenties) … how cool is that?

I wrote a series of blog entries called The Healthy Executive … you don’t need to be an executive, take a read.

We only get one shot at life, it would be a shame not to live it as fully as possible. 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!

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I saw this on Facebook … it is fairly self explanatory.

You can read a related blog entry … We Are Responsible for Ourselves.

Enough said!

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!

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Working in the temporary staffing world I sometimes hear the rhetoric from various groups suggesting that temporary work is not REAL work!

The statistics our industry collects (see ASA website) show that about 88% of temporary employees use those temporary assignments to gain new skills and go on to full time work.  About 20% of temporary employees choose temporary work because it fits their lifestyle. 

Temporary work pays the bills, provides job experience, provides opportunities for full time work AND for some, provides the flexibility they want in their lives to be able to pursue other interests. 

There is some percentage that are totally unhappy with their lot as temporary employees … it is possible that is as high as 12%, but its more likely less than 10%. 

I am going to just say it … some of these people just don’t bring much to the table!  As an employer I wouldn’t want to hire them full time … for a whole bunch of reasons.  So it is possible that for these people temporary work needs to be a way of life too!

I have walked through the Occupy Toronto site, to and from work each day this week, and there are some very nice people there.  However when someone has a sign saying “All I Want is a Job” and they have Green spiked hair and piercings all over their face I have to wonder if they are REALLY putting in some effort to get that job?  They might be smart, they might be hard working … but there are many jobs where that look would just be a non-starter.

I learned early in life that life is not fair … that is just a fact.  We can work towards fixing inequalities, but sometime people are their own worst enemy.  

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!

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Is it OK to take company stationery to use at home? 

If a plastic pen is OK; then a pen and some paper is probably OK; then some pens, pencils, highlighters and writing pads are OK; then maybe a computer or two is OK! 

Is it OK to claim the odd dubious expense?

Well I could claim a couple of coffees because I probably spent some extra time at work this month; then its probably OK to claim that lunch I had with my buddy (because he works in the industry … and I was gathering intelligence); then its probably OK to claim the golf game with a couple of buddies (because they will tell me what is going on at “that account”); then its probably OK to claim that dinner with my wife because I have worked really hard this month.

Is it OK to call on my old clients even though I have a six month non-compete?

I could just post my new job on LinkedIn and then connect to them all in preparation for after the six months; then it would be OK to send a nice message saying I really enjoyed working with them and I’m now at company X; then maybe I could just have a coffee and tell them what I’m up to now and what a great company it is; then I guess it would be OK to see if they have any “opportunities” because its been 4 weeks and it might take another 5 months before the orders come through!

Is it OK to take extra time out of my work day for personal activities?

I could just squeeze in that dental appointment, I can make the time up later (maybe); well I have to catch that 5pm bus so sneaking out 15 minutes early each day won’t be a big deal (15 minutes a day= 1 hour 15 mins a week = 5 hours a month = 60 hours a year); I’m a sales guy so I can do a client call on Friday afternoons at 1pm out near my home and be home by 2pm (3 hrs a week = 12 hours a month = 144 hours a year).

The picture I am painting is with a jaundiced eye and from an employer’s perspective only.  The point however is that it is often easy to justify small decisions, but they can easily get bigger.   Where is that line?  Is it your decision to make … or should you just not go there?

 You have a contracted, symbiotic relationship where you provide skills and labour and the company provides income and benefits.  Are you being fair to your employer? 

If not, then are you OK with the person that is willing to cheat their employer? 

Everyone games the system a little bit, but truly ethical people make a real effort to be fair … other people don’t.

There is a lot of talk about CEO greed … their excessive incomes and perks, and I believe that ethics needs to start at the top.  If management is not willing to set the right example then they can’t expect their teams to have a higher standard.  Are you comfortable that your management team are ethical in their choices?

All of us have choices every day … I believe that it is important to be comfortable with who you are. 

Are you?

No judgements … just askin’!

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)

Have you tried Eagle’s (very cost effective) VirtualRecruiter service?

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